Religion in the narratives of Polish members of the European Parliament – politicising European integration?

ABSTRACT

The contribution investigates the role of religion in the work and attitudes of Polish members of the European Parliament (MEPs). It draws on two types of data: the results of the Polish part of the survey on Religion in the European Parliament and in European multilevel governance II (RelEP2) and qualitative content analysis of Polish MEPs’ speeches from the first part of the European Parliament’s ninth term of office (July 2019–June 2021). The analysis of the MEPs’ plenary speeches reveals the pivotal role religion plays in articulating the main national political divide between sovereignists and Europeanists over attitudes to European integration. Religion, treated primarily as a cultural resource and identity marker, has become instrumental for the process of politicisation of EU integration at the supranational level – mirroring processes on the domestic level – pursued especially by MEPs representing right-wing orientations. The analysis of the survey results demonstrates that Catholicism constitutes an important element of many Polish MEPs’ individual value systems and identities. However, this translates into an ambivalent perception of the role of religion in the context of the public sphere.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion
• European Parliament
• Polish members of the European Parliament

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Rafał Rzepecki and Elodie Thevenin for their assistance in collecting the empirical material for this contribution. Our special thanks go to François Foret and the participants in the workshop on Religion in the European Parliament and in European multilevel governance (Brussels, March 2022) for their comments on the earlier versions of the text. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on the contribution and Ben Koschalka for copyediting of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In 2015 PiS formed the United Right coalition (Zjednoczona Prawica, ZP) with United Poland (Solidarna Polska, UP) and Jarosław Gowin’s Agreement (Porozumienie Jarosława Gowina, PJG). As of September 2023 the coalition was still in power, albeit PJG left it in 2021.

2. The research followed ethical principles as outlined by the Polish Sociological Association and was conducted in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation EU 2016/679). The invitation sent out to participants to take part in an online survey included information on the aim of the study as well as a link to the project’s website with the privacy policy statement explaining that the data collected would be subjected to pseudo-anonymisation and treated in an aggregate manner, and that all information that might allow third parties to identify participants would be removed.

3. Most Polish MEPs contribute to the plenary debates in their native language, but from time to time they also use English. All translations in this contribution are by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research for this publication was funded by the Priority Research Area: Society of the Future under the programme ‘Excellence Initiative – Research University’ at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

Notes on contributors

Magdalena Góra

Magdalena Góra is Associate Professor of political science and European studies at the Institute of European Studies of the Jagiellonian University. Her research deals with legitimacy and contestation in the external relations of the European Union, EU actorness in international relations especially in EU’s close neighbourhood, as well as on democracy challenges in the European Union. She has published several journal articles (Cambridge Review of International Relations, East European Politics & Societies, European Security, Religion, State & Society), book chapters, and co-edited volumes.

Katarzyna Zielińska

Katarzyna Zielińska is Associate Professor at the Institute of Sociology of Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Her academic interests focus on intersections of gender, religion, and politics in Central and Eastern Europe. She has published numerous articles in Polish and international academic journals (e.g. Culture, Health & Sexuality, East European Politics and Societies, Religion, State & Society), (co)authored three monographs, and co-edited several multi-author volumes.